Tennessee, 1862. Fifteen-year-old Elizabeth Edwards hates her personal slave, Anna. Elizabeth has never given much thought to the plight of the slaves on her father's plantation; instead, she focuses on pretty dresses and horses, and dreams of the young man she wants to marry. But Elizabeth's world collapses when she is told she must marry her cousin to keep the plantation in the family. Elizabeth takes out her anger on Anna, who finally snaps and reveals that Elizabeth and she have the same father. Anna is brutally whipped the next day, and Elizabeth is horrified. When she tries to confide in her mother, she finds her secretly kissing Elizabeth's tutor. Elizabeth now feels she has nothing and nobody. She changes her attitude about Anna and asks her to run away with her. They are overheard by two stable hands, Fred and Sam, who have heard of a safe house on the Underground Railroad. The four of them set off, planning to reach Canada. Will they all make it to Canada alive? Does Anna truly forgive Elizabeth, or is she just using her? Is it possible to find love on the run?

Plantation Children

Wednesday August 30 to Thursday August 31,1862


The next morning I wake up and put on the same dress I wore the day before.Anna has done the same.The other girls are just now stirring,so we haven’t overslept.We all meet in the dining room for breakfast.


“What’s the plan for today?”Miriam asks the children as we eat


“We’re going to enjoy the last few days of vacation before school starts!”says Sarah.


“You still go to school?”I ask her.True,I was still being tutored when I left home,but it is very rare for a girl to be in school for that long.At least in the South.


“We’re going to have all our children complete high school,”explains Ezekiel.“The boys can go to college if they want to.But I want even the girls to have a good education.”


I wonder if I’ll be expected to start school,since I’m still fifteen.I haven’t thought of myself as fifteen for a long time.Everything I’ve been through has made me feel much older.I just don’t think I could sit at a desk like a good girl anymore.


Chapter 39